As drafting of the constitution gets underway heated public debate is expected over the basic law which will reshape the political landscape.

In a climate of political divisiveness fiery debate may trigger a precarious situation for a restoration of democratic rule unless the interim government holds a referendum to ward off a potential impasse.

The Interim Constitution prescribes a referendum to endorse any new charter. There is no clause prohibiting a choice between two competing drafts.

Opponents of a basic law sanctioned by coup leaders will not rest if just one draft is offered in a referendum.

Why not let voters render their judgement between a democratic charter approved by officials and an alternative?

Pro-democracy advocates and anti-coup activists should be afforded the chance to prove they can offer a better political system than the "official version" of democracy.

Instead of engaging in inconclusive bickering, the official charter writers and their critics should compete in demonstrating their visions of sustainable political development. And let the people end the debate by voting for their view of the best.

Even before the naming of the charter writers a hue and cry has arisen over what constitutes fair and true democratic representation in rewriting the basic law.

Many pro-democracy activists and academics have chosen to shun the drafting process and are sulking in the corner. These include Pitaya Wongkul from the Campaign for Popular Democracy and Worachet Pakeerat from Thammasat University.

Some advocacy groups, including Midnight University, have promised alternatives. But they have yet to start their work in any tangible way.

Among the 1,982 members of the National People's Assembly the dissatisfaction of those missing out on the 200-strong Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA) is evident. There may be cases of sour grapes when the Council for National Security (CNS) picks its final 100 CDA members.

Once the 100 CDA members are in place they will name 25 charter writers while the CNS will add 10 to those to form a core-drafting panel.

The 35-member panel holds the key to charting the future of democratic rule and it is likely to be bombarded from the sidelines with suggestions and criticisms.

The United States Constitution has stood the test of time for more than two centuries. It was written by a core group of five and co-signed by 39 of 55 framers.

Thailand is on its way to its 18th basic law. The recently-suspended charter was billed as the "People's Constitution". It was drafted by a group of 33 writers in 1997.

For this charter there will be two more writers. But, critics remain unsatisfied.

They appear to want greater involvement in the drafting process even as history has shown a good draft depends on the quality and not quantity of legal minds behind it.

If politics is to move forward this is the time to put ideas into action and not to find fault.

Pro-democracy activists were quiet before the September 19 coup but they came out in droves to slam the seizure of power when it was too late to do anything about it.

As their penance for failed democracy they are obliged to lead the path back to democratic rule.

Society may be better off for having an alternate political model to choose from other than that offered by the coup leaders.

Avudh Panananda

The Nation